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Now here's something hard to write about. Well, maybe not to write about but it will be tough to categorize it. Once in awhile an album comes in that blatantly disregards all genre restrictions and occupies a niche of its own. As a reviewer, you might throw some comparisons around but beyond that, the whole still remains a mysterious piece of work. As you might have guessed, this is one of those albums.

Villainy is a band from The Netherlands, Weert to be exact. They formed in 2010 in order to create something unique. Now, I'm used to unique and distinct bands from The Netherlands. I wonder if it's something in their soil or in their acceptance towards certain drugs but there have been loads of interesting acts coming from our neighbours. Villainy is no different in that aspect, blending every heavy genre they can get their hands on.

Traditional black and doom metal seems to some of the major influences behind this music. I'm reminded of Celtic Frost or Venom but just as much of vintage doom metal bands. On the other hand, there's also this eerie blackened feel, mainly present in some of the vocals. The guitars have very little blackened attitude, sounding more seventies than nineties. In that aspect, acts like Lugubrum often come to mind while listening to this.

That doesn't mean that there are no brilliant songs on this album. 'Jewel' is an absolute highlight in whatever genre it's supposed to be. It's raw, harsh and perhaps also punk inspired, in a way the Winter was punk inspired back in the days. Yet, there are some stunning hypnotic passages to be found, along with some impending slow piece of music, alternating with fierce slabs of black metal. 'Valley' for instance, is a crushing piece of music.

Villainy created a bridge between old school extreme metal and today's post scene. Many bands pass the revue, including Obituary, Entombed, Wolves In The Throne Room, Pink Floyd, Moonspell, judas Priest, Neurosis... I don't know why but they're all there. This simply is a stunning mix of the entire history of metal, or so it seems. My advice, check it out. This surely is something unique in today's extreme metal scene.